1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waterproofing device for a mobile apparatus.
Further, the present invention relates to a waterproofing device for a mobile apparatus providing waterproofing structures for an electronic apparatus and a connector.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a waterproofing device for a mobile apparatus using a thin coaxial cable or an optical cable and is applicable to a portable telephone of a bi-directionally openable/closable type which can be opened in a lengthwise direction and a widthwise direction.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
In recent years, a waterproofing connector used for electronic apparatuses such as a portable telephone, a wire harness for an automobile, or the like has been miniaturized, and simultaneously, the waterproofing connector has been required to have a high water proofing function.
For making an electronic apparatus including a plurality of spaces to have the waterproofing function, it is necessary to make a housing configuring each space to have air-tightness and to electrically connect respective spaces by a linear member such as a wire harness and a flexible substrate, or the like.
In this case, a method of providing terminals on wall surfaces of the housings partitioning each space and connecting the terminals by a wiring material, and a method of passing the wiring material through the wall surface of the housing and filling a space formed between the wiring material and the housing with an adhesive have been proposed.
However, the embodiment to provide terminals on the housing wall surface has a problem that the device becomes large.
The method of filling the space formed between the wiring material and the housing with an adhesive causes a problem that disassembling and re-assembling are difficult.
Thus, an embodiment of integrally molding a seal member with a flexible wiring substrate as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 has been proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-142836 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-214927).
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, a seal member 301 having a frame shape matching each housing shape (not illustrated) is integrally molded with a flexible wiring substrate 100.
The flexible wiring substrate 100 penetrates each seal member 301, and electronic parts are mounted on the flexible wiring substrate 100 within an area surrounded by each seal member 301.
Further, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, a bush-shaped seal member 303 is integrally molded with a flexible wiring substrate 100.
The seal member 303 is mounted to an insertion hole provided at each housing (not illustrated).
Further, connectors 304 provided at both ends of the flexible wiring substrate 100 are electrically connected with electric parts in the housings.
However, in these methods for integrally molding the seal member 301 or 303 to the flexible wiring substrate 100, there is a danger that the flexible wiring substrate 100 is damaged by a clamping pressure or a high temperature at a time of molding.
As such, an embodiment of integrally molding a connecting part (a hinge part) consisting of a soft resin material and a housing consisting of a hard resin material, and then inserting a flexible wiring substrate into an insertion hole provided at the connecting part, has been proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-259656).
However, since a metal mold for molding is complicated and large, the molding cost becomes high. In addition to this, it is very hard to perform an operation for inserting the flexible wiring substrate into the insertion hole in the housing, which is a closed space.
Further, recently, in small communication devices including a portable telephone, various differentiations have been carried out according to the expansion of a user layer, so that various production developments have been carried out in fields of miniaturization, impact resistance, waterproofing, and the like.
According to these requirements, for exercising various kinds of functions, it becomes necessary to increase the number of wiring lines and to realize multiaxial movement (a bi-directionally openable/closable type).
Therefore, in the embodiment of using the conventional flexible wiring substrate, there occurs a problem that these requirements cannot be fulfilled.
As such, a thin coaxial cable and an optical cable have been discussed as a wiring capable of multiaxial movement.
However, as for the thin coaxial cable, it is very difficult to uniformly spread a gasket material in gaps between numbers of very thin cables which are bundled. Further, it is also very difficult to adhere a conventional gasket to the thin coaxial cable since the thin coaxial cable is low in adhesiveness with a fluororesin layer used as a covering material for the cable.
Further, since there are many pinholes in a covering material of such a cable, invasion of water into the thin coaxial cable cannot be prevented, so that there is a problem that the device in the housing is corroded.
Particularly, in the case of a portable telephone of a bi-directionally openable/closable type using the thin coaxial cable or the optical cable, a torsional motion is applied to a connecting part in addition to a conventional swing motion of a prescribed angle. Thus, there is a problem that a conventional flat plate shape or materials such as a rubber like elastic material cannot endure these motions.